Introduction
In 2009, Ford Motor Company was faced with a serious challenge to promote a new model in the American market. The difficulty of the situation was conditioned by the fact that Ford Fiesta did not align with the typical vision of a Ford vehicle in the United States. Unlike large and powerful trucks, this model was compact and city-oriented. Therefore, the company had to engage a brand-new segment of the audience that normally remained out of reach of its general customer base. In a way, Ford had to add a new dimension to its own image and highlight previously unseen opportunities for younger, city-based drivers to engage with the brand. For this purpose, the company accumulated its efforts and designed a marketing campaign. The expectations were that this campaign would perform well against the biased perception of Ford as a manufacturer of large vehicles designed for suburban and rural white men. In other words, the image of the brand had to be rendered more up-to-date, addressing a new niche occupied by other car manufacturers. This case study analysis aims to appraise the marketing campaign in question.
Background of the Case
The campaign in question was prepared for the year 2009 by Ford Motor Company. By this point, Ford was one of the world’s largest and most famous automobile manufacturers, holding 16.7% of the market in the United States (Deighton & Kornfeld, 2012). The company had maintained a good reputation among its customers and a relatively stable financial position. In terms of product, the brand was mostly associated with several renowned models, including the F-series of trucks, the Explorer, and the famous muscle car Mustang. Nevertheless, the management of the company felt eager to expand its presence into the adjacent categories, attracting new segments of American drivers into the mix. In 2009, the attention was drawn to the new Ford Fiesta, which is a compact city vehicle with a modern design and optimal characteristics for urban driving.
The key issue consisted of the fact that the Fiesta was from the standard vision of Ford automobiles. The typical profile of the brand’s customer is a middle-aged white man living in suburban areas and utilizing the benefits of large trucks with powerful engines. In turn, Fiesta was designed for younger, ethnically diverse audiences of both sexes who resided in urban areas where they can enjoy the compactness and manoeuvrability of the model. Therefore, the brand had to engage a new segment that did not perceive Ford as a viable choice for their automobile needs.
Fiesta U.S. Marketing Strategy
In order to address this crucial challenge, Ford Motor Company designed a marketing campaign that would help it compete in the B segment of the automobile market. The idea was to obtain visibility in new areas other than dealership and test drive events (Deighton & Kornfeld, 2012). This choice of strategy appears optimal since it has the potential to increase the reach considerably. Regular Ford events are unlikely to have the required segment, since the decades of brand reputation have formed a different audience identified earlier. Yet, millennials remain notoriously difficult to engage profoundly, which is why the efforts should be not only innovative but also persuasive.
The idea to create the Fiesta Movement with an array of agents, broadcasting the company’s message in a fitting format aligns with this objective. The task of creating a sense of urgency and “fear of missing out” is an optimal strategy of engaging the millennials who are susceptible to trends and peer pressure. Such a roadmap can reasonably be expected to generate the awareness needed to meet the expectations of the Fiesta campaign. Most importantly, the plan accounts for the necessity to speak the language of the audience. Otherwise, such attempts may be deemed lazy and worthy of mocking, which contradicts the expectations of the company.
Metrics Reported
For the model awareness level, the marketers used the reported pre-sale awareness of Nissan Cube in the B segment. This is a viable choice, since Nissan is fairly known player in this category, and Fiesta nearly doubled this result, averaging 42% against Cube’s 23%. For monthly visits, Ford referred to the numbers of its model Flex, which is a crossover vehicle. This selection is equally adequate, since Flex is not one of Ford’s best performers in terms of sales and awareness. Matching Fiesta against the company’s renowned trademarks would be less informative by default. In fact, this benchmark was also doubled per the findings of the marketing team with 289,000 unique visits compared the initially projected 144,000 visits (Deighton & Kornfeld, 2012). The metrics for test-drives were of limited usefulness due to the limited supply of available vehicles. Finally, Fiesta became the leader of its segment in terms of mass media mentions, overtaking such well-known competitors as Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit with more positive publicity. Overall, the provided set of metrics appears adequate with no immediate additions required. The performance of the campaign exceeded the expectations in most regards.
Controls of the Campaign
The ability to control the flow of the campaign was one of the defining features behind the design of Fiesta Movement. As reported, Ford wanted to have extended coverage through less explored outlets, but there were fears of uncertainty regarding the nature of the publicity. With numerous reports on Fiesta, it would be difficult to control the contents of each publication. In this regard, Ford enlisted a large group of agents who willingly joined the campaign to spread the message through social media. With this approach, the company had an army of loyal participants who could fill the informational space with well-crafted posts, delivering the required information to a broad audience. Evidently, when it comes to social media presence, topical discussions generate a certain level of uncontrollable publicity around them. Yet, with the help of the Fiesta Movement agents, Ford exercised a sufficient degree of control over a large share of the publicity.
Reach of the Campaign
The digital space holds an increased potential for the reach of the campaign. Overall, the focus group of Fiesta agents comprised 100 people with a vivid interest in driving and the ability to spread a trustworthy message. It was a fitting combination of large Internet personalities and smaller blogs that accounted for an optimal level of publicity across different platforms. The metrics cited previously indicate that the mission was generally successful, as the level of recognition for Ford Fiesta in the United States made this model a leader in its segment. Overcoming the competition imposed by its rivals from Nissan and Honda is a major accomplishment. More specifically, Fiesta was virtually a new discovery for the American market where Ford was associated with trucks and muscle cars. Yet, after a few months of marketing efforts, it became the best-known vehicle in the B-segment, while its competition had been present there for years. Therefore, the dynamics of the campaign show that the reach was sufficient and even exceeded the initial projections, as shown by the interest to the model.
Recommendations
In light of the achieved results of the campaign, it is generally recommended for Ford to utilize this experience in the future campaigns. Specifically, new projects of the company can be actively promoted through similar networks of digital agents. This is especially relevant for new markets where additional presence is required. For example, an opposite situation may be seen in Europe where Ford’s larger vehicles are likely to be less known amid environmental concerns and less urban space. In this region, the company will benefit from promoting F-type trucks among rural communities by enlisting a different team of agents who have the trust of this audience. It is equally important to maintain a fine balance in terms of publicity. Excessive presence or overly positive statements may eventually irritate the audience, which is why it is not recommended to exceed the level of 100 agents per campaign. This way, Ford can create an image of a modern, trustworthy manufacturer that speaks the language of its target audience.
Conclusion
Overall, Ford’s campaign to promote its new model through the Fiesta Movement became a successful endeavor for the company. People responsible for it accurately developed a fitting design that increased the visibility of the brand in a segment that is new for it. Furthermore, they also managed to identify the profile of the target audience for Fiesta, outlining the key points to use in the campaign. As a result, this combination of marketing expertise and modern solutions accounted for outstanding results for Fiesta in terms of public interest and recognition in the new segment. The actual performance doubled the expectations, implying that this experience can be studied and utilized in subsequent campaigns.
Reference
Deighton, J., & Kornfeld, L. (2012). The Ford Fiesta. Harvard Business School.